This invention relates to a device for crushing metal cans, such as aluminum beverage containers, so that they can be readily stored and/or transported for recycling.
The desirability, if not the necessity, of recycling aluminum beverage cans as a means of conservation and/or environmental control has stimulated the developement of can crushing devices. However, devices previously developed were generally complicated and made of a relatively heavy metal material in order to provide the strength and endurance required to perform the can crushing job satisfactorily. Typical examples of such devices are disclosed in recent U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,796 to Salatka, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,875 to Fabbia, et al., both of which show a linkage for moving a crushing plate against a can held on a fixed anvil plate.
In another U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,647 to Reimers, a more complicated arrangement is shown wherein a can is crushed by axial compression between a movable anvil and a rotatable base that requires the can to twist as it is compressed.
The aforesaid and other examples of the prior art have failed to solve the problem of providing an aluminum can crusher that can be constructed of relatively light but strong material and yet have an effective mode of operation that makes it possible to crush cans with only moderate force and at a fairly rapid rate. One object of the present invention is to solve this problem.
Another object of the invention is to provide a can crushing device that causes an initial crimping of a can as it is inserted into its position for crushing prior to actuation of the device, thereby reducing the initial axial force required to commence the crushing process while starting the can to collapse in the desired axial manner.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a can crushing device comprised of a relatively small number of components that can be easily assembled.
Another object of the invention is to provide a can crushing device that can be mounted in either a vertical or a horizontal position and yet will eject a collapsed can from the device after actuation of the crushing stroke.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a can crushing device that is particularly well adapted for ease and economy of manufacture.